Chile’s role in leading freedom of information legislation in Latin America is being recognized this week as Chile is the international guest of honor at Mexico’s annual National Transparency Week.

Felipe del Solar, executive secretary of Chile’s Integrity and Transparency Committee, will speak in Mexico City in front of an audience of more than 600 international experts on Aug. 27, the final day of the international conference.

Del Solar will share Chile’s knowledge on transparency legislation, sitting on the panel “Transparency and access to information: the experience of Chile.”

Chile is regarded as a regional authority on government transparency, ranked as the most transparent country in Latin America by global anti-corruption coalition Transparency International.

The country passed a landmark Transparency Law on April 20, 2009, which provided widespread public access to government information and created the Transparency Council, designed to aid the public and regulate freedom of information.

The President of the Transparency Council, Raúl Urrutia, will join secretary Del Solar at the conference, along with Ramiro Mendoza, the Controller General of Chile.

The conference, now in its seventh year, is organized by Mexico’s Federal Institute of Access to Public Information (IFAI), an independent agency that promotes transparency, accountability and right of access to information for the public.